


Radioactive

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Radioactive (Music Video)
Genre: Battle, Fighting Rings, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-Apocalypse, Puppets, Resistance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:48:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xana has to find the Dragon Squad</p>
            </blockquote>





	Radioactive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bewize](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewize/gifts).



> Thanks to my beta, BobbingAlong

Xana walked through the dying woods as silently as possible. Neither she nor Hibiscus had sensed any guards, but it never hurt to be cautious. She still didn't know how the others had been caught, or if their entire operation had been compromised. Dragon Squad was supposed to be tracking the child, but they hadn't checked in in two days. The child was a rumor, a powerful young Radioactive who could heal, but recently there had been a supposed sighting. If the child did exist, they were close by.

Emerging from the crumbling trees, Xana eyed the barn ahead; a relic of a time long passed. Most people lived in the cities now, where the air was filtered, except those few who couldn't afford it and were forced out into the fringes.

And, of course, those who preferred the anonymity of the deserted rural areas. Don Diamond and his gang moved around the countryside a lot, taking from those who couldn't afford it, and selling fake cures to those few who could. As though anything could cure the fallout sickness, or the loss of a Soulspirit.

The barn looked deserted, but Xana saw a hint of light shining beneath the sagging doors. She hoped it was a sign that Don Diamond was still at home, and not a forgotten reminder of where he had once been. He moved around so frequently, and without warning, that it was hard for them to keep track. If their intel was even right to begin with, there was no guarantee that it was timely. If Dragon Squad or the child were moved, Xana might never find them. And even if they were here, she might still be too late.

The longest anyone had survived without their Soulspirit was a couple of hours. Dragon Squad had gone missing two days ago.

Secretly, she hoped that some of the missing locals would be the first on the chopping block, before her brothers in arms; she might need the extra fighting force to get back out with the child. Assuming she even found the child.

Hibiscus was ready for the fight, but Xana wasn't sure if she was. She had always fought by his side, where their advantages and shortcomings were balanced by each other. Don Diamond didn't fight beside his Soulspirit. He was famous for his ring fights, and famous for the strength of his Tyrian, who bested Soulspirits in single combat. No one had intel yet on whether Tyrian was a Radioactive, but Xana and Hibiscus had prepared as though he was. No point in going into this fight completely unprepared.

The Soulspirit in the ring didn't belong to one of Dragon Squad, and Xana let out a small sigh of relief. She felt a little bad for whichever missing local was about to have his Soulspirit shredded by Tyrian, but it gave her a minute to assess the situation. She had a better chance of rescuing everyone if she and Hibiscus had time to observe, but she would risk it all if she saw her brother's Owl, Morsus, in there.

She found a frog Soulspirit huddled in a cage and mentally compared it to the description of the child's. He was clearly a Radioactive, and he acknowledged her presence with a tiny trembling nod. Xana contemplated this; could the child be real? And here? If so, this would be quite a boon to the Resistance, and a chance to save more people in the future if the child was really a healing prodigy. Don Diamond couldn't know that the frog and child were Radioactives, or he would have already dealt with them. Permanently.

Another Soulspirit was placed on the chopping block, and this one Xana recognized as Cinereus, a Koala who belonged with Dragon Squad. This was proof that her brother's Squad was here. She stepped forward, but before she could uncage Hibiscus, Don Diamond pulled a lever, sending Cinereus plummeting down below.

Xana circled around and inspected the trapdoor. It appeared that there was a holding area below – probably in an old cellar. This was likely where the human partners were being kept. Another Soulspirit was dropped, and she tried to catch a peek at what lay below. She heard no screaming, so it was probably not a trap; besides, Don Diamond was the kind that liked to watch Soulspirits die in his rigged fights, rather than simply dropping them to their hidden death. If Cinereus and the others had been dropped, Dragon Squad was likely still alive and whole.

With Cinereus and the others probably out of danger, she had a few more seconds to analyze and plan. Hibiscus should have the advantage against Tyrian, if he truly wasn't a Radioactive. Then, once Xana rescued her Squad, they would look for the child among Don Diamond's prisoners and bring her back to the Resistance Headquarters. Decided, Xana slipped back to the edge of the enclosed ring. Tyrian shredded another Soulspirit, and Xana knew she needed to act. Slipping open his cage, she pulled Hibiscus out and dropped him into the ring.

Don Diamond immediately sought her out, their eyes meeting across the room. He smirked, thinking he had already won. His Soulspirit was undefeated, after all. Xana just eyed him steadily. Had Tyrian been a Radioactive, and Don Diamond with him, they would have sensed her and Hibiscus before seeing them. They would never have let the frog and child live, either.

If Tyrian was simply a normal Soulspirit as she now suspected - albeit a brutish, bloodthirsty one - then she and Hibiscus had already won. It was simply a matter of formality to initiate the fight; Hibiscus would lull Tyrian into a false sense of security while powering up, and then end it with a decisive blow. Her fear for her partner ebbed as Xana recalculated their odds of success.

As Hibiscus blasted Tyrian, Xana enjoyed the shock and pain that played across Don Diamond's face. Now he would know how he had made so many others feel. Tyrian was alive, for now; Hibiscus knew that their plan depended on this. The crowd of goons quickly dispersed, and Xana and Hibiscus slowly advanced on Don Diamond. They would send him down to his cells, as was fitting. He had condemned humans and Soulspirits to wait there in anticipation, and now he would feel the same dread and fear as his victims. As Don Diamond plummeted out of sight, Xana finally allowed herself to smile.

She trussed up Tyrian while Hibiscus gathered the other Soulspirits and freed those who were chained around the room. They descended into the cellars beneath the barn, where Dragon Squad eagerly greeted her. It seemed that each of them had been spared, for now, and Cinereus and Fumus were with their partners already.

Xana gave her brother the key so that he and the rest could free the other living prisoners and reunite them with their Soulspirits. Unfortunately, those for whom it was too late would be left behind; they didn't have time for burials.

However, there was one more order of business. Xana gathered the Soulspirits of Dragon Squad and led them on their own mission. While no human could harm another's Soulspirit, the reverse was not true. And her fellows had some poetic justice to dish out to Don Diamond.

When they were finished, she would truss him up like his Tyrian and haul them both back to Justice, but for now, she would let the Soulspirits have him.

As his scream echoed off the cellar walls, Xana laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hibiscus is a tropical flower most commonly seen in shades of pink/red. Tyrian is the purple pigment used by the ancient Romans and Byzantines for their togas/cloaks. Cinereus (the species name for Koalas), Fumus, and Morsus are latin for ashes, smoke, and death, respectively.


End file.
